The golden tickets

Student stubs for QU/Yale in high demand

The War for Whitney Avenue will continue this Saturday at High Point Solutions Arena at TD Bank Sports Center, when the men’s ice hockey team will face Yale for the first time since the 2013 NCAA National Championship game. While Bobcats get ready to take on their rival, students prepared to get their free tickets and bargain with one another on Monday night.

Matt Eisenberg

Student tickets for this season’s QU vs. Yale game went on sale Monday, Nov. 4 at 10 p.m.

This season’s student tickets sold out in less than five minutes, according to Executive Director of TD Bank Sports Center Eric Grgurich.

In the past month, the athletics department’s ticket page has received 74,753 pageviews. Last night, the website received a total of 19,137 pageviews, or 25.6 percent of its monthly views.

In the past, the nearly 1,200 student tickets available have sold out in under two minutes, according to Grgurich.

“Last year’s game was pretty popular, and I believe it was because we were No. 1 at the time,” Grgurich said. “I expect that this year’s game will be very similar to last year’s.”

Tickets on sale to the public on Oct. 1 sold out especially fast this year, according to Grgurich.

“We probably have about 2,300 tickets available to the public, and those went within the first day,” Grgurich said. “In the past, they have usually gone within the first week.”

An additional 10 student tickets will be given out during halftime at the women’s basketball season opener on Friday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., according to Grgurich.

Tickets on StubHub were available Tuesday afternoon between $85 to $195. A ticket, originally on sale on StubHub for $235 was bought on Tuesday. The average price of a ticket, as of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, was $118.95. Quinnipiac sells individual tickets to premium games (e.g. vs. Yale, Cornell and Harvard) to the general public for $15.

Sophomore Nicolette Drakos, who got her student ticket to this year’s game, said she is looking forward to how the rivalry will play out on Saturday night.

“I think the most exciting part will be seeing our team get far again,” Drakos said.

Sophomore Mike Vaknin said he is excited for the men’s ice hockey team to seek a little revenge on Yale.

“Last year’s championship game was heartbreaking, so this weekend is going to be crazy,” Vaknin said after he received his student ticket Monday night.

Since tickets for the QU vs. Yale ice hockey games have always been in high demand, according to Grgurich, an additional 200 students are able to attend the game for free this year.

“We don’t want to ever charge students to get into the game, and we held an extra 200 tickets aside this year because this will be a popular game,” Grgurich said.

Although Grgurich said he hopes to never charge students for these tickets provided by the university, he said he is fully aware students often sell these free tickets to make a little extra cash.

“Students see this as an opportunity to make money, but they’re taking these tickets away from someone else who actually wants them,” Grgurich said. “I can see both sides of it, but I’m hoping students don’t do that.”

Senior Ben Mills said someone had offered him $60 for his ticket as of 10:30 p.m. on Monday, but he was still looking for other offers.

“I dress up as a Teletubby at every game, so I already have a ticket,” Mills said. “So I generated a ticket to give it to someone for cash

Drakos, like Grgurich, said she can also see both sides of students selling their free tickets to make a profit.

“I think it’s unfair, but it’s also smart because people are willing to pay for the tickets,” Drakos said.

Sophomore Kori MacDonald, who said she would not sell her student ticket, said it is unfair for anyone to sell theirs.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t clog up the server and take free tickets that students actually want,” MacDonald said.

Vaknin said he would consider selling his ticket, but he would prefer not to.

“The offer would probably have to be $100 or something,” Vaknin said. “I honestly don’t care for the money. I’d rather go to the game with my friends and enjoy it.”